The Supreme Court is preparing to order the release of 98 million shekels in frozen funds for haredi educational institutions, on the condition that the money be transferred only to schools that teach the required fundamental curriculum subjects. The decision follows petitions filed by opposition leader Yair Lapid and the Hiddush association challenging the legality of the transfers.

During a court hearing, the judges instructed the state and representatives of the haredi school networks to agree within two weeks on clear criteria for distributing the funds. The court stressed that only institutions that provide core subjects such as Hebrew or Arabic, mathematics, English, science, social studies, history, geography, Bible studies, and physical education will be eligible. Institutions that fail to provide data or lack qualified teachers for these subjects will be presumed ineligible.

The dispute arose after the Finance Committee approved the transfer of one billion shekels in December for salary payments, even though many of the institutions do not teach the required subjects. It later emerged that over 900 million shekels had already been transferred and spent before formal approval, prompting criticism from the judges over retroactive authorization and insufficient oversight.

Although most of the funds have already been distributed, the court emphasized that future deductions can be made from institutions that do not meet requirements. The distribution of the remaining funds will be supervised by the Attorney General, with the court signaling stricter enforcement of curriculum obligations going forward.